Note: This post was originally published on this blog at 10:20 AM. Subsequent content was added between 12:30 and 1:00 PM.
Hello again, everyone! Although I had published an initial version of this post here at 10:20 AM, some of the Church News articles covering that development were not yet available at that time, and I had another commitment to tend to this morning, so, on the heels of this morning's announcement of the revised reopening dates for the Washington D.C. Temple, temple reopening update were first provided in this official release from the Newsroom. Those updates were subsequently also shared in the latest update from the Church News, and were further reflected in the weekly reopening status tracker. Let's get right into those details.
First, the temples in Caracas Venezuela, Manaus Brazil, Tijuana Mexico, and Vancouver British Columbia have reopened or will soon reoepen in phase 3, which allows for the performance of all living ordiances in priority order, and the scheduling of limited proxy work. Meanwhile, the Church has announced that the Fortaleza Brazil Temple could transition to phase 2-B, allowing ordinances for the living in priority order, and proxy baptisms by appointment, as early as August 2. And the Sydney Australia Temple, which had reached phase 3 in its reopening, has had to puuse operations due to COVID-19 conditions and restrictions.
And three more temples in North America could reopen in phase 3 anytime between now and the ned of next month. Those three are the Toronto Ontario Temple in the North America Northeast Area, and the Medford Oregon and Spokane Washington Temples in the North America West Area. As of next Monday (July 26), these adjustments will result in the following breakdown of temples reoepning in each phase:
8 are closed for major renovations (6 of which have been granted phase 3 designation, allowing ordinances for the living in priority order and limited proxy ordinances as scheduled); 10 temples are currently "paused" in their reopenings (6 of those had reached phase 3, with 1 in phase 2-B and the remaining 3 in phase 2); 3 are operating in phase 1; with 10 in phase 2; 17 others are in phase 2-B; and the remaining 120 are now operating in phase 3.
As always, I remain continuously grateful for the measured approaach the Brethren have taken to carefully transition temples to the next phases of operation, while allowing COVID-19 conditions to inform their choices about pausing or stepping back any of the temples in their reopening. Each week, the Church is getting all the more close to a return to normal temple operations, and that is very much a reason to rejoice.
For my part, I continue to monitor all Church news updates and temple developments, and will be sure to pass word of those along to you all as I become aware thereof. That does it for now. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated, on any post at any time, as long as such comments are made in accordance with the established guidelines. Thank you for the privilege of your time. If you enjoyed what you read here and would like to stay informed of newly added content, please feel free to subscribe. Until my next post, I wish each one of you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.
Hello again, everyone! The Church News also provided coverage on remarks given by President Dallin H. Oaks, First Counselor in the First Presidency. President Oaks was the keynote speaker at the SUper DUper Day, which was recently held at This is the Place Heritage Park for the families of the members of the Sons of the Utah Pioneers and the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders-and-ministry/2021-07-20/president-oaks-pioneer-legacy-inclusion-super-duper-day-219802
And the latest episode of the Church News podcast features Church News editor speaking with Church News staff writer Sydney Walker to summarize recent remarks given by Acting President M. Russell Ballard and Elders Dieter F. Uchtdorf, David A. Bednar, and Quentin L. cook relative to councils in the Church:
https://www.thechurchnews.com/podcast/2021-07-20/inside-church-headquarters-councils-podcast-president-ballard-219892
My thanks once again to you all.
I had a follow-up comment I wanted to make here: My wife and I received our physical copy of the August 2021 Liahona. There were a few surprises there. Usually, with the Church rotating assignments for General Authority Seventies in August every year, the August edition of the Liahona (or the Ensign, in previous years) included a copy of the area leadership assignments that did or would be effective on August 1. That is not included in the August edition of the Liahona this go-round, so unless it is featured in the September edition, I think we can safely assume that the Newsroom release will replace the traditional metnion in the main magazine each August.
DeleteAdditionally, the August edition has typically provided a list of the editor and advisers to each magazine, with any changes made to the editor or advisers noted first in the August edition. Not only does the August Liahona continue to list the same names it has listed for the editor and advisers since January 2021, but above and beyond that, Sister Cristina B. Franco, who was released in April as Second Counselor in the Primary General Presidency, is also still listed as an adviser.
It will be interesting to see if the September issue mentions changes to the editor/advisers list, and whether or not that edition also shares the list of area assignments that will be effective August 1. Once I learn anything in that respect, I'll be sure to pass it along to you all here. For now, thanks again, everyone!
Hello again, everyone! The Church News has shared the following additional reports:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.thechurchnews.com/living-faith/2021-07-21/gospel-library-childrens-collection-resources-219853
https://www.thechurchnews.com/history-revisited/2021-07-21/church-history-museum-evening-at-the-museum-trail-sail-or-rail-pioneers-west-tiffany-taylor-bowles-220018
Additionally, I wanted to note that last night, I ran some calculations on the time difference between where I am (in Utah) and several areas where temples have been announced, to see if i could potentially figure out what time of day here in Utah would be most likely to yield groundbreaking announcements in each of those locations. Based on what I found there, and depending on when the groundbreakings for each temple are able to be announced, I have calculated that, for the Cambodia temple, if the Church were to make an announcement on it at 8:00 PM any evening here in Utah, that would be equivalent to 9:00 AM the following day in Cambodia. So a late-evening temple announcement from the Church would probably be practical in that case, whenever the announcement of a groundbreaking is able to occur for that temple.
Meanwhile, in the Pacific Island nations which have had temples announced in previous General Conferences, each of them could have groundbreakings announced between 2:00 PM and 5:00 PM here in Utah. Each of the temples announced will rise within slightly different time zones, so that will be the big variable. Meanwhile, whenever the Church announces a groundbreaking for the Bahia Blanca Argentina Temple, that announcement could be shared at roughly 6:00 AM here in Utah.
Each of the Utah times mentioned above correspond to 9:00 AM in each of the locations mentioned. Time zones and time differences seem to be a major factor in the timing whereby the Church makes temple-related announcements on any given day.
It will be interesting to see what happens in terms of temple-related announcements throughout the rest of this month. To the best of my ability, I will continue to cover all temple updates and Church news here. In the meantime, my thanks once again to you all.
The Church News has also shared the following article featuring Latter-day Saints who will compete in the upcoming 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo:
Deletehttps://www.thechurchnews.com/members/2021-07-21/latter-day-saint-olympics-tokyo-2020-brazil-usa-tonga-australia-new-zealand-219770
My thanks once again to you all.
Hello again, everyone! The Church News has shared two new reports today. First, BYU-Idaho had their commencement exercises today. The featured speaker was Young Men General President Brother Steven J. Lund (who serves on the Church Board of Education but not on the Executive Committee of the Boards):
ReplyDeletehttps://www.thechurchnews.com/living-faith/2021-07-22/byui-graduation-brother-lund-divine-parachute-220051
The other report is the third article in the planned four-part series covering the importance of Church Councils:
And once again, the same four members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles who have provided previous insight in the two preceding articles have been featured this week again. Those four are Acting President M. Russell Ballard and Elders Dieter F. Uchtdorf, David A. Bednar, and Quentin L. Cook.
Obviously, the President (or in the current case, the Acting President) of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles is responsible for giving Quorum mebers their assignments at the general level, with the advice, consent, and approval of the First Presidency.
But since the other three senior apostles (Uchtdorf, Bednar, and Cook) were quoted in the articles about councils, until further evidence suggests otherwise, I'm going to assume that those are the three apostles chairing each Council. With the recent confirmation that Elder Uchtdorf has concluded his service as the Chairman of the Missionary Executive Council, I came across information that unofficially confirms that Elder Cook has succeeded Elder Uchtdorf in that role.
Since the rotations wouldn't just affect two of those three apostles, with Elder Cook now overseeing the Missionary Executive Council, it seems most likely that Elder Bednar has succeeded Elder Cook as the Chairman of the Priesthood and Family Executive Council, and that Elder Uchtdorf has in turn succeeded Elder Bednar as Chair of the Temple and Family History Executive Council.
Hopefully, official sources will at some point confirm, correct, or clarify things in that respect, in addition to detailing which other members of that Quorum now serve on each Council. But for the time being, the assumptions about the chairmanship of each Council seem to be safe to make here. For now, my thanks once again to you all.
The Newsroom reported today that the First Presidency has met with the Archbishop of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America:
Deletehttps://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders-and-ministry/2021-07-22/inside-church-headquarters-missionary-executive-council-temple-family-history-priesthood-family-219541
And in recognition of all of his efforts to preserve and build upon Utah's piooner legacy, in tribute of his contributions as a business man-turned-apostle over the decades, Utah Governor Spencer Cox has officially designated tomorrow as "President M. Russell Ballard Day" in Utah:
https://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders-and-ministry/2021-07-22/president-ballard-honored-by-utah-sarah-jane-weaver-teachings-about-looking-back-and-forward-have-new-relevance-220098
https://www.deseret.com/utah/2021/7/22/22588887/governor-declares-july-23-as-president-m-russell-ballard-day-lds-church-latter-saint-pioneer-day
I may have some temple updates to pass along today as well. If that is the case, I will post those ASAP. For now, my thanks once again to you all.
Since posting my comment above a few hours ago, the Church News has provided their own report on the Archbishop's visit to Church headquarters which I mentioned in the previous comment:
Deletehttps://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders-and-ministry/2021-07-22/first-presidency-welcomes-archbishop-of-the-greek-orthodox-archdiocese-of-america-220163
Meanwhile, the Newsroom has covered the previous report about Governor Spencer Cox designating today President M. Russell Ballard day in Utah:
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/president-m-russell-ballard-day-utah
My thanks once again to you all.
I do have a couple other minor temple update to report: First, with the reopening dates recently announced for the Washington D.C. Temple, several have remarked on the fact that that is almost another whole year away. It appears that the reason for that is that the Brethren wanted to have dates announced so the information is out there. But it appears as though, if it is safe to do so, there may be a slight possibility in which the Church could move that up. It's easier to move something up in the schedule if it can be rather than to announce opening dates closer to now only to have to postpone those arrangments again.
DeleteAs far as the other update is concerned, for a while now, both the Hong Kong Chian and Columbus Ohio Temples were estimated to be completed sometime in mid-2022, in that same order. But at some point in the recent past, the two temples switched positions in the queue. Just wanted to pass those updates along. My thanks once again to you all.
At the top of this subthread of comments, I made reference to the third of four articles about councils in the Church. But in menioning that article, I forgot to provide the web address at which that article can be found. I apologize for that unintentional omission:
Deletehttps://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders-and-ministry/2021-07-22/inside-church-headquarters-missionary-executive-council-temple-family-history-priesthood-family-219541
My thanks once again to you all.
Hello again, everyone! As I’ve mentioned in the past, each year on July 24 here in Utah, a state holiday honoring pioneers is held. In conjunction with that, the Church has also usually held a Sunrise Service, at which one of the general leaders of the Church speaks. Due to the fact that July 24 is on a Saturday this year, today marks the observance of the state holiday. At this year’s Sunrise Service, General Authority Seventy Elder David F. Evans was the featured speaker:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders-and-ministry/2021-07-23/pioneers-faith-elder-david-evans-sunrise-service-days-47-220226
As some of you might recall, Elder Evans has been serving as President of the Asia Area, from which assignment he will be released on August 1. But given the fact that Elder Evans spoke in-person at the Assembly Hall in Salt Lake City, it appears that the transitions for the outgoing and incoming members of that presidency has occurred slightly earlier than anticipated. As I’ve also previously mentioned, Elder Evans, who will mark his 70th birthday in mid-August, is one of 7 whose 70th birthday will likely result in each of them being released and granted emeritus status:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1R0XG0t36oR2MTm4lt4cR2XptiEN4Z-pYPF06kiVzMao/edit?usp=sharing
And both the Church News and the Newsroom have reported on the deaths of two more young elders in the mission field, with one other injured as the result of a terrible traffic accident:
https://www.thechurchnews.com/members/2021-07-23/two-missionaries-die-in-new-mexico-collision-third-is-hospitalized-220255
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/two-missionaries-die-new-mexico-traffic-accident
My thanks once again to you all.
HellIo again, everyone! Last night, the Church News published the following additional report (which, for some reason, I apparently did not share in the comments at that time):
ReplyDeletehttps://www.thechurchnews.com/members/2021-07-23/days-of-47-parade-pioneer-day-floats-220258
The Church’s official Newsroom additionally provided two new reports yesterday, which for some reason were also noted passed along here at that time:
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/elder-rasband-serves-as-grand-marshal-in-the-days-of-47-parade-honoring-pioneers
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/meet-the-latter-day-saint-olympians-competing-in-tokyo
And it wasn’t until this morning that the Church News published the latest edition of “This Week on Social”:
https://www.thechurchnews.com/living-faith/2021-07-24/social-media-renlund-vulnerable-children-savior-temple-220221
I assume the Church News opted to post that today instead of yesterday as the result of today officially marking Pioneer Day here in Utah (with the state holiday having been observed yesterday). This week’s installment in that ongoing series shared posts from the following apostles: Church President Russell M. Nelson and his Second Counselor, President Henry B. Eyring; Elders David A. Bednar, Quentin L. Cook, Neil L. Andersen, Ronald A. Rasband and Dale G. Renlund, all of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
The latest article in the series also shared posts from the following General Officers of the Church: Sisters Sharon Eubank and Reyna I. Aburto, the respective First and Second Counselors in the Relief Society General Presidency; the entire Primary General Presidency (General President Sister Camille N. Johnson, and her respective First and Second Counselors, Sisters Susan H. Porter and Amy A. Wright (from the latter of whom two posts were shared); Sunday School General President Brother Mark L. Pace; and Young Men General President Brother Steven J. Lund.
Church News staff writer Sister Sydney Walker shared her thoughts on how writing the series of articles about councils in the Church helped solidify her testimony that the Lord directs His work:
Deletehttps://www.thechurchnews.com/living-faith/2021-07-24/councils-church-headquarters-sydney-walker-219371
In her article, Sister Walker mentions specifically being assigned to attend a meeting of the Priesthood and Family Executive Council. The article shows a few pictures from when she sat in on that meeting:
https://www.thechurchnews.com/living-faith/2021-07-24/councils-church-headquarters-sydney-walker-219371
The caption of the picture notes that Elders Quentin L. Cook and Gerrit W. Gong were serving on that council, while also noting that Elder Ulisses Soares served on that council as well (though he apparently was not able to be in attendance at the meeting of that Council on that day). But the picture also notes that Elder Michael T. Ringwood serves as Executive Director of the Priesthood and Family Department, and mentions that two female General Officers of the Church are also members of that Council (Relief Society President Sister Jean B. Bingham, and Sister Michelle D. Craig, the current First Counselor in the Young Women General Presidency).
The picture from that Council meeting was taken in March of this year, so it appears that it predates the reassignment of Elder Cook from chairing thor e Priesthood and Family Executive Council to now serving as the Chairman of the Missionary Executive Council. That being said, I was surprised that the caption of that particular photo noted that Elder Soares was a member of that Council as well. The last verifiable information we had about the junior apostle’s assignments indicated that he was also the junior member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles on the Missionary Executive Council. Insofar as I am aware, I have not heard of any scenarios in which any member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles was simultaneously serving on two of the three top Executive Councils of the Church.
Unfortunately, although there is important information in that article from today (particularly as it confirms that at least 2 of the 9 female General Officers of the Church are serving on each of the three major Executive Councils of the Church), it seems that the articles about the important role of councils in the Church do not provide any information, directly or indirectly, in terms of which members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles are currently serving on each of the Executive Councils of the Church.
That being said, it did occur to me that, since the Church may have rotated some apostolic assignments this year (as the current members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles are known to do fairly regularly), I would imagine that as there is a rotation in terms of which Quorum members chair each of those Councils, there might be at least one member of each Council who retain those roles, in order to provide for some consistency as the newly-assigned chairs and any new members prepare to pick up where the previous Council members left off.
I hope that somehow, at some point (perhaps even on Thursday this week, when the final article in this series about Church councils is published), that the Church might be able to shed some light on which apostles serve on each council now.
That being said, there are one or two additional reports from the Church News as well today.
DeleteThe next one shares a summary of remarks given at the Church History Museum by the museum’s associate curator of education:
https://www.thechurchnews.com/history-revisited/2021-07-24/trail-sail-rail-green-flake-cup-violin-trunk-pioneers-journey-to-zion-church-history-museum-220418
And the Church News also shared the text of the new message that will be shared during tomorrow’s hybrid edition of “Music & the Spoken Word”:
https://www.thechurchnews.com/living-faith/2021-07-24/music-the-spoken-word-a-step-of-faith-220146
If any new temple construction updates are available today, I will pass those along in another new comment later today. For now, my thanks once again to you all.
Hello again, everyone! The following additional reports have been published by the Church News:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders-and-ministry/2021-07-25/week-in-review-president-nelson-olympics-councils-series-220215
https://www.thechurchnews.com/members/2021-07-25/latter-day-saints-tokyo-olympics-days-1-2-volleyball-gymnastics-swimming-soccer-shooting-mykayla-skinner-220455
https://www.thechurchnews.com/members/2021-07-25/ollie-cantos-blind-triplets-steven-nick-leo-faith-happiness-219217
My thanks once again to you all.
Within the last few hours, updates have been provided on the construction status of the Saratoga Springs and Orem Utah Temples, in addition to the Columbus Ohio Temple (currently undergoing renovation):
Deletehttps://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/saratoga-springs-utah-temple/
https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/orem-utah-temple/
https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/columbus-ohio-temple/
My thanks once again to you all.
the Saturday evening session of general conference will continue in a different format as of October 2021 general conference
ReplyDeleteNigel, thanks for mentioning that here. As I mentioned in a new short post yesterday, I had a medical emergency on Tuesday and just got home last night, so I appreciate you sharing this development. Always a pleasure to hear from you.
DeleteTo be honest I am not sure how this bruhaha will be done. And it is a bruhaha.
ReplyDeleteYou don't cancel something only to bring it back six weeks later only to contend that both were revelatory experiences.
Not that I am upset; I quite enjoy General Conference. The best thing would have been to say "Brethren, we are going to make a change to Saturday Evening General Session. We will no longer be using the Priesthood or Women's Sessions, but will target everyone as a whole. The format will be slightly different than in past Conferences."
But we get whiplashed twice in six weeks.
"No General Conference Saturday Evening as people see the broadcast anyway!"
"You know what, let's bring Saturday Evening Session back but for the general population of the Church and friends of the Church."
It's an embarrassment. The critics are laughing at us. I would be laughing too if I didn't know better. I don't see any other two ends around this. But maybe someone could enlighten me?
I don't see anywhere in the original article from June that it was a "revelatory experience" for the decision.
DeleteIt made sense to me why originally they would decide to discontinue that session of conference on a practical sense to make it all general sessions for everyone and now I'm glad they've thought it out more and we'll see 5 general sessions for everyone.
I guess I'm in the opposite as I don't see why some seem to be getting bent out of shape out of this announcement (not calling you out, but I'm speaking more of stuff I saw on the social media comments of the announcement today).
As for revelation, yes we believe in it on personal and church wide scale, but we also believe in a God who respects our agency and lets us, more often than not, to make our own decisions based on our experience and what seems practical. Then, if needs be, He'll help correct or alter a plan if we seriously ponder and investigate an issue further. Sometimes this seems to be the majority of the case. At least, that's how I've come to understand stand it studying the scriptures and church history.
I guess at the end, this is just a matter of a conference session. It would be like altering how a meeting format is, what being taught isn't changing. I mean c'mon. If critics are using this as some sort of "proof" to find a way to criticize and laugh, that's kind of weak in my opinion.
Is it interesting that this came about the way it did? Sure. Embarrassment? No.
Bryan and Eric, thank you both for stopping by to comment. First, Bryan, to your point about course reversals, I know that to critics of the Church, anytime the Church subsequently updates, adjusts, or alters any matter relating to the Church, they are quick to jump on that as some kind of sign that either one or both of the decisions (changing things vs. not changing things) are cause to dismiss those. But the careful observer of Church history will note that there have been a couple of examples in the recent past where the Church has set more of a hardline to begin with, until adjustments and slack could be given in some respects that would prove to be respectful towards all affected thereby. As I pondered your comment, Bryan, my mind was drawn towards the actions taken by the Church in 2015 and 2019.
DeleteIn 2015, the Brethren announced a decision relative to the church membership of and protocols for children and youth being raised by same-sex couples, In 2019, additional adjustments, clarifications, and corrections were further announced on that subject. That led me to recall the BYU devotional address given by President Russell M. Nelson in September 2019. During his remarks (which I recommend us all to review), he described specifically how the initial 2015 decision came about, how Church leaders continued to deliberate the many aspects and sides of the issues, and how discussion and seeking revelation through prayer brought the apostles to the revised decision 4 years after the original scenario was announced:
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/love-motivated-policy-changes-toward-lgbt-parents-children
In his remarks, one of the things President Nelson focused on was the fact that the 2015 decision was one on which the apostles were united, but they were equally committed to exploring any further adjustments to those situations (where possible through a united decision). Were either or both policies uninspired? No.
DeletePresident Nelson made it clear that all who were involved felt both times that the changes could not have come from any other source but divine inspiration.
Another example: It was commonly understood that the office of high priest was separate and distinct from the office of an elder. But since both Melchizedek Priesthood Quorums minister to the members of their congregation over whom they had stewardship, and since there are a few local Church callings that require a man to be ordained a High Priest, the two Quorums functioned in a connected but separate way.
The stake presidency consists of three Presiding High Priests, and they, along with the stake patriarchs, bishops, and their counselors, have been identified as the only ones currently assigned to a High Priests' Quorum, which reduces and simplifies the work.
Sorry. I apparently didn't realize I hadn't finished my thought here. The tradition of High Priests' groups at the ward level must have been inconsistent with the doctrinal practice of a High Priest's Quorum at the stake level, which necessitated that change right out of the gate during the first General Conference held under President Nelson. It was also tradition for wards to have Young Men Presidencies at the ward level, and those serving in those assignments were often primarily focused on advising the young men in a way that should, per doctrinal instruction, have been done by the ward bishopric, who had oversight and responsibility for that role. Bishoprics are doctrinally supported, but there is no similar provision for congregational young men presidency.
DeleteAnd we also know that the Church has had to clarify, correct, or adjust previously-announced policies, practices, and procedures. There have been several occasions where a temple has been recently announced and, for whatever the reason, could not be built on the site originally chosen. I for one don't consider it safe to assume that the original announced locations were not inspired. Rather, the Lord allowed His servants to try to get approval for the original sites, before the Church leaders were in turn led to the new location where those temples could more easily be built.
The Lord reminds us in the Book of Ether that "fools mock, but they shall mourn." As President Nelson observed during his January 16, 2018 remarks, made in the Salt Lake Temple annex when the new First Presidency was introduced, once any new apostle is called, it takes 2-3 decades for them to rise in the ranks of the apostleship to the senior chair. I can’t say this with any certainty, but I’m of the opinion that none of the apostles who have served at any time couldn’t serve as long as they have in the ways that they did if they paid any attention to what critics or disaffected members of the Church were saying about any of them or the decisions that are made.
This comment was originally published on this thread on July 31, 2021 at 1:48 PM, but was later found to be missing a chunk of intended content in the middle thereof. As a consequence, this correct revised content was subsequently published on August 1, 2021, at 12:29 AM.
DeleteI felt a need to double-check on this matter, Bryan, and it
appears that Eric was correct in his assessment. There was no mention whatsoever in the original June announcement that the decision to cut the evening session was inspired by revelation, while the most recent announcement that it will continue in a new format did indicate that the subsequent continuation of that session in a new format was received by revelation.
Right from the start of his prophetic administration, President Nelson underscored the vital importance of revelation for the Church. As a result of that, he has been unapologetically transparent and explicit in his assertions that certain actions he had taken (such as the unexpected April 2018 acknowledgement that the Lord inspired the announcement of the Bengaluru India Temple the night before President Nelson presided over his first General Conference as prophet).
Coming to my next point, including the General Conference held in April of this year, President Nelson has presided over 7 General Conferences of the Church thus far. The number of talks given in each of those General Conferences have averaged out to 35. If we take away the traditional 6 speaker slots from the Saturday evening sessions of the past, that leaves only 29 talk/s.
Since President Nelson speaks at least 3 times, with Presidents Oaks and Eyring each doing so at least twice, discontinuing the Saturday Evening Session would essentially mean that there would be roughly 5-7 less speaking slots for other general leaders of the Church.
So the elimination of the Saturday Evening Session would put a real dent in the number of non-apostolic speakers who would have been able to address each conference. So that supports the rationale for continuing the session. Maybe critics of the Church won’t see this that way, but that’s hardly something to worry about. Thanks again to you both for taking time to comment.
I would think if we had discontinued the evening session the members of the First Presidency would have not reschedule their extra talk. Rather each would only speak once, with President Nelson also opening and concluding conference. I still think that will be the case, which would allow for 3-5 non-apostle speakers to be added in their place.
DeleteHey, Scott. As always, thanks for taking time to comment here. I appreciate hearing from you. I think the main issue the Brethren probably looked at is that, with an average number of 35 speakers per conference, eliminating the evening session would mean 6 less speaking slots (which might have been filled by non-apostolic speakers). So I'm working on a scenario right now. With President Nelson having given opening remarks in the last 3 Saturday Morning Sessions, unless there is a good reason for him to not do so, he will likely maintain that slot with a short address. It would only take another short address by him to conclude the conference. If the Saturday Evening Session had not been brought back, it likely would have involved one less talk from President Nelson and each of his two counselors. But unless there is a really good reason to not do so, I believe the tradition of having all 3 members of the First Presidency close out the Evening Session will remain, as will the counselors' alternation between being the last speaker Saturday Morning and the first Sunday Afternoon. The really great news is that recent adjustments have shortened the time needed to present changes in general Church leadership. Right now, I'm looking at a scenario where the slots taken by the First Presidency since April of last year remain intact.
DeleteFor the Quorum of the Twelve, the scenario I'm working on is similar but slightly different to what we saw with the last General Conference. That scenario would see 3 members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles speak during the Saturday Morning Session, 4 more in the Saturdau Afternoon Session, 1 in the Saturday Evening Session, and 2 each in each of the Sunday Sessions.
What we saw last April was that, in a session where only 1 or 2 Quorum mebers speak, there are generally more slots available for other General Authorities and General Officers in those sessions. If the simulations I have run thus far on this scenario prove correct, then the apostolic speaker lineup would enable a total of 12-16 non-apsotolic speakers, whereas following a more normal rotation for apostolic speakers and members of the First Presidency might actually lead to 2-4 less speakers than a more normal scenario.
Of course, as we have seen with President Nelson, unexpected things can occur. With the way things worked out for last April's General Conference, during the Sunday Morning Session, in which the only apostolic speakers were Elder Soares and President Nelson, who spoke with 7 other General Autohrities and General Officers. Having that many nonapostolic speakers in a single session is just about unheard of.
So it will be interesting to see what happens with the Saturday Evening Session replacing the Priesthood Session each April and the Women's Session Each October.
Aside from the speaking order, though, Scott, I wanted to ask for your input on something else. I know you've kept a database of the general authority seventies of the Church. Since you do that, I'm sure you were as fascinated as I was by the way the Church changed how new area seventies are sustained in April and the way they have changed how area seventies are released in August.
With that in mind, I'm sure you also saw that the Church will continue to have the now-released-Elder Kevin J Worthen continue to serve as president of BYU-Provo. Since he was released now as an area seventy now, do you have any insight into whether the Church might perhaps call him as a General Authority Seventy in October and have him continue to serve at BYU-Provo until he is granted emeritus status? Or have you seen anything on your end which would make that appear unlikely? Maybe you won't have any information or opinions on this, but it never hurts to ask, right? It is always a pleasure to hear from you, Scott. Thanks again for weighing in here.
Exciting news of today is that the groundbreaking has been announced for both the Neiafu and Pago Pago temples:
ReplyDeletehttps://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/groundbreakings-announced-for-two-temples-in-the-south-pacific
Eric, thanks for sharing the news about the Pacific Islands temple groundbreakings. I'd hoped to share that myself when I heard about it, but I was in the middle of a medical emergency, so I couldn't share that at the time. I appreciate you mentioning that here. Thanks again. I have a feeling many more such announcements are coming down the pike relatively soon here. Great to hear from you, and thanks again.
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